Trim back evergreen shrubs' summer growth spurt

10:32 PM,
Aug. 15, 2013

Written by

Nel Neal

Q. There are five loropetalum shrubs in my front garden that I pruned in late spring. Now they are sending shoots high up, about four feet. Can I cut those off now?

A. Not only loropetalum (or fringe flower, as they are sometimes called) but also many other evergreen shrubs will have a vigorous burst of growth in summer. Crepe myrtles develop stems that pop up from their base, wax Ligustrum and Cleyera that were nicely pruned may have errant stems that ruin their nice shapes. There is no reason not to prune them off now, so go ahead and neaten them up.